AFORE Solutions Extends Encryption Reach

Given all the high-profile security breaches these days, the subject of encryption for all the wrong reasons has never been more popular.

While there’s some debate as to whether encryption provides the level of security it was once thought, given the debate about backdoors that have been created at the behest of U.S. government, the general feeling is that usage of encryption is going to increase across the enterprise if for no other reason than that the volume of sophisticated attacks that target specific types of data is increasing.

In addition to encrypting application data, Mike Byrnes, director of product marketing for AFORE Solutions, which is headquartered in Canada, says IT organizations these days want to be able to encrypt files and entire virtual machines as IT in general becomes more distributed in the age of the cloud.

Byrnes says that what makes the CloudLink approach to encryption in the age of the cloud different is that its technology doesn’t inflate the size of the data being encrypted. IT departments have historically discouraged their organizations from employing encryption because of the processing tax that encrypted files and documents placed on the IT infrastructure. But in the wake of high-profile security breaches, coupled with increased regulatory requirements, more organizations are looking to encrypt data.

Obviously, encrypting data is not going to stop the determined insider attack. But when it comes to thwarting external attacks or simply ensuring that when data does get lost it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, encryption remains a critical element of the IT security arsenal.